Isabela Moner Learned This Ancient Peruvian Language For 'Dora The Explorer' Movie

Isabela Moner is opening up about how she prepared to take on the iconic role of Dora the Explorer for the upcoming movie.

Speaking in a new interview with Forbes, the -year-old actress revealed that she actually learned Quechua, the indigenous language spoken primarily in the Peruvian Andres and the highlands of South America as far back as the 1500′s.

“I had to learn Quechua to speak it in the movie because Dora is very cultured and she knows everything about everything,” Isabela shared. “Between scenes, I’d call my great aunt in Peru to ask her about certain phrases and how to say them in Quechua.”

She adds that filmmakers actually modeled this live action Dora on her own heritage.

When the film was announced, it was talked about whether or not the cartoon was originally from Mexico.

“The casting director reached out to me as I was going into the final casting and they asked me about my ethnicity,” Isabela explained. “They did all their research and Dora doesn’t have a defined ethnicity. So it seems that people have assumed that she’s Mexican but she’s not.”

She added, “I’m still trying to grasp the fact that Peru is finally being represented so largely in Hollywood because it never has before. This is going to be huge in every sense of the word.”

If you missed it, you can watch the first trailer for Dora and the Lost City of Gold on JJJ now!